As we are a couple of weeks into this new year, 2011, which has been said to be, and already feels like it will be, a year filled with transformation, I am reflecting on what this year is to bring. So many at this time have set goals or resolutions, many of which sadly will not come to completion. One of the most common resolutions is "I am going to loose weight". And to pursue this goal, most decide, I will go on a diet. As I say the word "Diet", I feel the word is even loaded with an energy that doesn't feel so optimistic or positive. Diet, right away, brings to mind things like: lack of, cutting back, depriving, what you can't have, feeling starved and punishment. It might sound dramatic, but words have such strong energy, there is no doubt.
What if we were to say we were going on a "Live-it" instead?!
Where Di-et feels like lack of, Live-it feels like abundance. Instead of thinking about what we can't have, can't do, how bad we feel, we flip it around? If I am going on a "Live-it" I am filling my self up with amazing, beautiful, live, real food. I am putting that living energy into my cells. I am moving my body in whatever ways feel great for me, whether it is Yoga, walking, running, any kind of movement.
I am thinking about the things I want to bring into my life. I am honoring my spirit, not depriving it. In yoga, we don't so much set goals, but intentions. Same, same but different. We focus on the positive aspect of what we want, not what we don't want. In wanting to be at a weight that is healthy and great for you, meaning you feel good and can do the things that you wish to do, the intention might be to create great health, and to do the things that support this.
We might say affirmations like: I am spending time with people that help me to feel positive, feel good, feel up, and alive and that support my healthy choices. I am making more and more time for ME in the activities that Nurture my spirit, and feed my soul so that I am filled up on the inside with those things that help to devolope me into the amazing person that I want to be, these are spaces that are sacred that should be filled up with what is sacred to you.
Time is not replaceable, not one minute can we get back. We have a choice in what we do with our time, Today, and every day, I choose to Live-it!

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Dawn Torres is the owner of Laughing Buddha Yoga Studio. She is passionate about the many benefits that yoga can bring to your life. More than a decade ago, Dawn began her yoga training, as well as the study of many other healing modalities. She studied Iridology, Herbology, Kinisiology, meditation, hypnotherapy and attained her Reiki Master's Certificate. All of these healing arts complimenting the practice and teaching of yoga. She continued to gain a better understanding of what was going on in her own body and life as well as her students dealing with illness, stress and other issues in their lives.
Dawn received her 200hr RYT through Yoga Works in Seattle. She then followed her heart and traveled to India to continue her studies with Master Yoga Teacher Anand Mehotra in 2008. Shortly after returning, she was able to Open the Yoga Studio she had been dreaming about for several years.
Laughing Buddha Yoga Studio is a space where yoga is taught as not only a physical practice, but as a "system of wellness" for the Whole Being! The physical body being the most obvious. Using Mudras, sounds, postures & awareness of our thoughts, we begin to create balance & health in our lives.The body can look perfect, but if what is happening inside of the head is turbulent, it will without a doubt eventually create turbulence in the body!
In 2010 Dawn returned to India with 4 others from the studio to complete her 500hr RYT and participate in the Sacred Kumbha Mela festival which happens only once every 12 years. Yogis travel from all over the world to be a part of this, the largest pilgrimage in the world. To be in this Sacred land, in Rishikesh, known as the birthplace of yoga during such an Auspicious time is something that will be with her forever.
Dawn is passionate about continuing her travels to India, and bringing the undiluted teachings of yoga back to her studio. She thinks it is amazing that yoga has become so popular in the United States and all over the world and loves many of the different styles of yoga, but thinks it is important not to lose the original intention for which Yoga was created.
Dawn's classes are a mixture of classic Ayengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Kundalini and other yoga traditions. She believes that Yoga should be fun, inspiring and transforming . She enjoys working with Athletes, and has worked with a local baseball and softball team, the Archbishop Murphy highschool football team and Jackson highschool dance team. She was honored to be selected as Ambassador for the New Mill Creek Town Center lululemon Showroom, Jala Clothing in Los Angeles Ambassador and participate in several local events raising awareness for the local FEAST organization.
Nothing brings Dawn more joy than hearing the stories from students as they share how their lives are being transformed. She feels that this is the true beauty and magic of yoga, that once you find peace and harmony in your own life, you learn the real secret behind a happy life, Service to others. You don't do it because you have to, but because you want to, and can't imagine it any other way.